Do Civil Rights protect sexual orientation? Knocking on the door of the Supreme Court. (please retweet)

Today in Washington, the Supreme Court chose not to hear an appeal that would prohibit possible employers from discrimination against gay and lesbian workers.

The case in question came from Jameka Evans who sued a Georgia Hospital for “discrimination” because of her being sexual orientation as a lesbian. Evans sued on the belief that her Civil Rights had been violated.

There have been two separate appeals in this case with conflicting decisions. One ruling favored Civil Rights protecting those based on their sexual preference. The second court ruled sexual preference was not a reason for protection under Civil Rights protections. These split decisions can occasionally rise to the Supreme Court level, however, this case did not reach that mark.

Some interesting points to this case – the Administration/Government argued both for and against Title VII being used to protect those based on sexual orientation. A lawyer from the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Commission argued for protection while A Justice Department attorney argued against. The Justice Department had filed a brief in July stating to the Second Circuit that the EEO commission was “not speaking for the United States.”

There are more cases on the horizon similar to this, that may eventually be decided by the Justices and the Supreme Court.